The Internet refers to a worldwide network of networks. Information travels between computers connected to the Internet by a series of one or more packets of electronic signals. Each packet contains an address indicating the destination for the packet and contains information content or payload for use by special programs (servers) running on the device at the destination. A numeric address called an Internet Protocol address (IP address, also called Internet address) is used by equipment called routers, bridges, or “brouters” comprising the Internet to direct packets to devices connected to the Internet. A domain name is a convenient way for human beings to remember and identify the location of services available from servers distributed over the Internet. Therefore, a device having an IP address on the Internet is frequently associated with one or more domains each with a unique domain name. Services available on the Internet include file transfer using a file transfer protocol (FTP), electronic mail, and the World Wide Web.
The World Wide Web (WWW) refers to a set of information files, called web pages, having standard formats such as the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and transmitted according to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and distributed across various computers connected to the Internet. A browser program (client) running on a user computer connected to the Internet can request, receive, interpret and display the information in a web page by exchanging packets over the Internet with a program (web server) running on a host computer where the web page resides. Web pages on the WWW are organized by web sites. Each web site is associated with a domain name on the Internet.
The Internet is a hierarchical network of networks, anticipating that a member of any network can itself be a network. Thus both the IP address and the domain name of web sites are organized into hierarchies.
An IP address, in general, is a 32 bit number that includes a network number, a host number or “HOSTID”, and a leading set of one or more bits indicating a convention for dividing the remaining bits between the network number and the computer number. It is useful to think of an IP address as identifying a particular physical connection to the Internet. In general, a particular physical device on the Internet has one or more IP addresses. The convention bits and the network numbers are administered by the Internet agencies. A given network having a network number (called here a local network) on the Internet controls the host numbers within the IP address that follow the network number of the local network. Since the host can itself be a network, the local network may allocate a range of host numbers for the network host to apportion to the various components of the host's network. The 32 bit IP address is often written as four 8-bit numbers (octets) separated by dots “,” where each octet is replaced by it decimal equivalent. The decimal range for an octet is 0 to 255. Plans and proposals exist to implement a 64-bit IP address structure. It is anticipated that the basic philosophy of operation will be consistent with the present 32-bit structure.
The Domain Naming System (DNS) is an Internet service that associates a domain name with an IP address. The DNS is distributed over a set of one or more domain name servers (or simply name servers) running on computers connected to the Internet. The name servers are special programs running on certain computers having known IP addresses. The name servers maintain records associated with a particular domain name. The DNS requires that a unique domain name be associated with a particular IP address. Several domain names can be associated with the same IP address; but a unique domain name cannot be associated with multiple IP addresses. Thus the DNS system provides a many-to-one or a one-to-one mapping from domain names to IP addresses.
With this convention, a user can indicate a web site by its associated domain name, and the DNS can be utilized to map the domain name to an IP address. The packets are then routed using the IP address. At the destination domain server, running on the computer at the IP address uniquely identified by the domain name, other information in the packet can be used to determine how the packet is processed. The DNS system allows a user of the Internet to retain a DNS name even though the physical device or its physical connection to the Internet, hence its IP address, changes. This is done by modifying the IP address associated with a DNS name on the proper name server.
According to the DNS, a domain includes the form
SLDname.TLDname
where TLD indicates a top-level domain, and SLD indicates a second level domain (also sometimes called a primary domain). Currently there are at least five international top level domain names including “com”, “edu”, “int”, “org”, and “net” and two other TLD names used without country codes “gov”, and “mil”. Country specific top-level domain names include for example, “us” and “uk” for the United States and Great Britain. The bodies that determine conventions used on the Internet and by the DNS are considering adding additional top level international domain names. The SLD to the left of the period, is a unique name (within a given TLD) as registered with the DNS. The portion of a domain name to the left of the “.TLDname” is referred to as the host name since it identifies a specific host where a server can reside. The DNS is responsible for mapping the SLDname.TLDname to an IP address of a computer running the domain server. Every registered SLD name has an entry in one of thirteen (13) “root name servers” that contains the physical IP addresses of two or more name servers responsible for translating a host name with that SLD name to an IP address.
The DNS is hierarchical and allows domain names to be constructed with multiple levels. However, the maintenance of the domain names and mapping to IP addresses of each additional level is the responsibility of a name server, typically the domain name server. In general, a domain name has the form:
. . . 3LDname.SLDname. TLDname
where 3LD refers to a third (3rd) level domain name and the ellipses indicates that additional levels can be added to the left. The levels are separated by dots “.” and level order increases to the left. Uniqueness of a domain name is assured if each name at a given level is different from every other name at that level. The same name can be used in different levels.
For example, a device identified by the SLD name “CollegeUniversity” and TLD “edu” can refer to a particular computer of the College University computer system. The particular computer has a particular IP address, say 111.255.55.01, at which it is connected to the Internet, and this particular computer runs a SLD domain server. Various computers and storage devices distributed over various departmental computer centers are connected to the domain server computer in a local network. The main computer in the physics department computer center of the above College University might have the IP address 111.255.55.05 and can be identified by the subdomain name “physics” and therefore has the full domain name of “physics.CollegeUniversity.edu”. Similarly, the psychology department computer center may have the IP address of 111.255.55.10 and domain name “psychology.CollegeUniversity.edu”. The network administration authority at CollegeUniversity.edu must establish and maintain name servers that map “physics.CollegeUniversity.edu” and “psychology.CollegeUniversity.edu” to their respective IP addresses. At the next level, the Astronomy section's graphics engine computer with IP address 111.255.55.07 connected to the physics computer center main computer can be identified by the fourth level name “astronomygraphics” of the third level domain “physics.” The full domain name of this computer would be “astonomygraphics.physics.CollegeUniversity.edu”. The mapping of forth level domain name “astronomygraphics” to its IP address is the responsibility of the name servers set up for the “CollegeUniversity.edu” domain which may or may not be the same as the SLD name servers.
A level of domain names need not be associated with a particular portion of the IP address. That is, a SLD name need not be associated with a particular local network, as in the above example, but instead can refer to a particular computer or host number within a local network. For example, if an Internet service provider (ISP) named Happynet has a local network number of 222.233.44 and several computers with host numbers of 0.00 through 0.25, an SLD domain server can be established on the single computer having an IP address of 22.233.44.00 with a SLD name “Happynetl” and a SLD domain server can be established on the single computer having an IP address of 222.233.44.17 with a SLD name “JoeDoe”. Thus the same local network can have different SLD names.
While the IP address refers to physical connection to the Internet. The domain levels beyond the SLD name need not refer to physically distinct devices. They can simply refer to different server programs running on the same processor or set of processors. The multiple server programs running on the same set of one or more processors are called virtual servers. In most computer operating systems, virtual servers are high-level systems objects. The domain administrator maintains a local name server that associates the name of each virtual server with its local IP address. The local name server may or may not be the same as the SLD name server. Each virtual server that resides on a particular physical device is given one IP address of the one or more IP addresses identifying that particular physical device. An additional database, usually established by the operating system of the device, associates the virtual server with a lengthy list of rights and privileges including a home directory on a storage device accessible by the virtual server.
To provide WWW services, the domain server must contain a web page that is first displayed to a user whose browser requests a connection to that domain web server. If a particular web page is not specified in the request or by the domain server, the user's browser is presented with the contents of a default page from the home directory having a file name often containing “home”, such as “home.htm” or “home.html”. The default file can have any name identified in setting up the virtual server system object.
Computer resources are associated with a server and are accessed by the server program. Computer resources include functions or buffers in peripheral devices like printers and scanners, memory media locations such as volatile random access memory (RAM) registers and non-volatile disk drive files, and other application programs such as spreadsheets, word processors, file management, financial services, trading on an exchange, network telephony, and many other known or emerging network applications. The naming convention followed on the Internet for specifying a service, a location and resource is called the Universal Resource Locator (URL). The URL form for identifying a resource is as follows:
ServiceDomainNameResource
File resources are specified by the directory and filename. Directory levels are separated by slashes “/” with level order increasing to the right. The file name appears to the right of the last slash. Service indicates how the resource is transferred and handled, for example whether FTP or HTTP protocols are used to transfer the resource.
The WWW follows this convention for identifying web pages. In the URL for a web page, the Service is specified by “http://www.” The DomainName is the domain name where a web server can be found, i.e. the domain name specifies a web site. The Resource specifies the file name, which is the web page to be displayed on the user's browser. The filename is optional; if not specified the file name “home.htm” or “home.html” is used as a default name.
Two characteristics of a web site then are (1) a URL address, including a domain name with a SLD name maintained on a registry of the DNS, and (2) a home page file written in a hypertext markup language (HTML) residing in a home directory.
In use, the World Wide Web has become a popular medium for exchanging information among users of the Internet. Corporate and retail entities that wish to project an image of availability and accessibility often establish web sites with domain names related to their trade names. Internet users have come to associate a name in a web site's domain name as a commanding presence on the World Wide Web.
In a typical procedure, a promoter (e.g., a wholesaler, a retailer, a service provider, an advocate, a publicist or a politician) establishes a web site to reach targets (e.g., known contacts such as former customers, registered voters, residents of an area, referrals, purchased lists and unknown persons). The promoter then attempts to induce the targets to visit the web site by publishing or otherwise advertising the domain name of the web site. To reduce the amount the target must remember, the promoter may leave off the service prefix “http://” or “www” or both and omit the web page filename, relying on the default page name. Many inducements have been tried to lead the target to visit the web site. Without sufficient target visits and activity at the web site established by the promoter, the expense and effort of establishing the web site is wasted.
The process of establishing a web site involves registering the SLD name with an authorized agency (a registry) for the TLD and then establishing a domain server on a machine connected to the Internet, or connecting a machine to the Internet. The SLD registration process typically involves manual steps and the payment of fees. For example, registering a SLD on the “com” TLD involves:                finding a unique name not already registered (manual and tedious task since many short and simple names have already been registered);        identifying primary and secondary name servers for storing the SLD name;        obtaining a registration agreement from a “.com” registry;        manually filling out the registration agreement;        sending agreement to registry with registration fee (about $50 a year);        responding to errors in the agreement identified by the registry;        receiving notification that agreement is processed; and        waiting for registry to enter records into databases used by SLD name servers.        
The information presented to the contact at the web site can be tailored in response to input provided by the contact such as by the contact's clicking on a product of interest. Delivery of product to a contact who places an order then requires the contact identify himself or herself and authorize payment either by making further entries through one or more dialog boxes, or by reliance on files (e.g., cookies) created by the server and stored on the contact's computer in a previous interaction between the contact and web site server, and retrieved by the web site server in subsequent interactions.
Promoters do not establish individual web sites for each of hundreds of targets, or more, without action by the target. The process of establishing a web site involves several manual steps, expense and delays as a SLD is registered and then additional effort as local name servers are configured and home page content is created. In addition, since few people would be motivated to visit such a web site, the promoter expects little financial return compared to the effort and expense expended in establishing such a web site.
What is needed are techniques to encourage contacts to invoke resources on a network, such as web pages at web sites, generated by a promoter.
In addition, techniques are needed to establish servers, such as web servers for web sites, on the network in bulk, cheaply enough to cost less than the expected gain obtained during use of resources on those servers.